


11367 kilometers away

by orphan_account



Series: it's beautiful, the glow on your skin; you're beautiful [1]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 04:38:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3277037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark does not expect to have 5 digits on his inner wrist, nor does he expect it to mean that his soulmate is 11367 kilometers away from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	11367 kilometers away

The numbers glow, from under your skin. There has been no scientific explanation as to how the numbers work, but everyone knows what the numbers stand for. The larger the number, the further away you are from  _the one_.

 

The concept of a soulmate is one that is taught to every child. When both you and your soulmate are born, the numbers glow simultaneously, in a colour that is unique to the pair. It burns, for a small moment, before the numbers are etched upon your wrist until you find your soulmate, until you meet each other. Then the number turns down to zero, and the number is replaced by a script of your other half's name in the same colour. 

 

When Mark was born, on the fourth of September, there had been nothing on his inner wrist. His parents had not minded - it only meant that their child's soulmate was younger than him, and that was all there was to it, really. They'd brought him home after his mother had been deemed healthy enough to leave the hospital, bringing little Mark with them.

 

When Mark was approximately 6 months old, a loud, piercing cry resonated through the otherwise silent night. Raymond Tuan dragged himself out of bed when the crying didn't cease, and over to the crib that their son was sleeping in. He picked up his child, making soothing noises and rocking Mark back and forth. The glow was what caught his attention, blinding in the darkness, and he lowered his head to squint at the tiny number on his son's wrist.

 

_11367_

Raymond blinked, then double checked the number again.  _11367_  meant that Mark's soulmate was half the world away from them. He rocked his child back to sleep, registering that the burn of the glow must have woken him up, and laid a gentle kiss on his child's forehead before putting him back into his crib.

 

"What's wrong with him?" 

 

Wrapping his arms around his wife, Raymond shakes his head. "His soulmate's just been born. The burn probably woke him."

 

When Jackson was born, on the 28th of March, the glow of the numbers on his inner wrist had captured the attention of his parents first. To them, it meant that their child's soulmate was older than he was. That didn't matter to them, of course - whoever made their child happy, they would accept - but it was the fiery red of the glow that piqued their interest. Ruiji and Zhou Ping's had been a soft gold, and the scarlet was a little intimidating. "He's going to be okay," Ruiji had told his wife, smiling down at their sniffling child. 

 

When Mark was 3 years old, he asked about the strange numbers on his wrist. The concept of soulmates was still confusing to him, and so Raymond had sat him down on his lap and ruffled his head. "The numbers are how far away you are from the one you'll marry, Mark," He had explained. "The more numbers there are, the further away you are."

 

Mark had looked up at his father with large eyes and blinked. "If the number reaches zero, Mark will find them?"

 

Raymond had nodded.

 

When Jackson was 2 years, going on 3, the numbers on his wrist started to jump. His eyes lit up, quickly running over to his mother and crashing into her leg. Any other day and Jackson would have pouted about the pain, but he was more concerned about the jumping numbers on his wrist.

 

"Mommy, mommy! The numbers are changing! Are they coming?"

 

Zhou Ping picked her son up, smiling. Maybe her son was going to meet his soulmate. From the numbers that they'd seen on the day he was born, they knew that their son's soulmate was halfway around the world. Telling Jia Er had been more difficult; How did you explain to a child that their other half wasn't where they were, especially after he'd been told that the numbers his own parents had had on their wrists had been  _839_?

 

She took Jia Er's wrist at look down at the numbers, only for dread to overcome her. The numbers weren't decreasing, but  _increasing_. She swallowed, watching as the numbers continued to jump, and gently sat her child down. "Jia Er," She started, smoothing his hair back. "They're not coming. Not yet."

 

Confused, Jackson thrust his hand out to his mother. "But mommy, the numbers are changing!"

 

"They're not coming closer, Jia Er," Zhou Ping replied. "They're going further."

 

When Mark was 4, and his family moved to Brazil, he watched as the numbers on his inner wrist increase with every time he looked at it. As though  _11367_  wasn't enough, it was  _18286_  by the time their flight landed. Raymond had slung an arm around his child's shoulder, while Linda had pressed a kiss to his forehead, telling him that it was okay, that he would meet his soulmate in due time.

 

When Jackson was 7, the numbers on his wrist started to jump again, and his eyes widened as he held his breath, not telling anyone this time. The numbers started to increase  _again_ , and Jackson slumped down, disappointed. Why was his soulmate getting further and further away from him? Weren't they supposed to be together? They were supposed to be best friends, his mother had told him. Where was his best friend?

 

When Mark was 8, he moved to Paraguay. He'd asked his father, and Raymond had said that his soulmate probably lived north, which is why the numbers kept increasing as they moved south. He sighed, glancing down at the number currently on his wrist:  _19236_. He kept quiet for a little while, then moved to cuddle into his older sister. 

 

"It'll be okay, Mark," Grace whispered, gently carding her fingers through his hair. "You'll find them; Don't worry."

 

Mark tried to believe her.

 

When Jackson was 11, he got beat up by kids at school for protecting the poor kid that they were bullying. Young and rash, Jackson had been going home school, ready for fencing practice, when he'd seen the poor kid being cornered. He'd gotten injured and unable to fence for a good part of a month, since his father had refused to let him do anything with a sprained thumb. He'd sulked about it, telling his father that it hadn't been his fault, but nothing had swayed his father.

 

He'd gotten home, silent, when Ruiji had sighed and placed a palm atop his son's head. "You did well, protecting your friend like that," Ruiji said, voice softer now that he was taking on the role of a father rather than a coach. "But next time, don't try to solve everything yourself. Get some help, okay?"

 

Jackson had nodded, eyes wide in admiration as he ran off to shower, mindful of his thumb. It was when he was showering that he realized that the numbers on his wrist were decreasing, and he quickly went through the routine to stare at the numbers, praying that they would go down even more.

 

He fell asleep like that, hopeful.

 

When Mark was 15, he punched an insolent schoolmate for making fun of the large number on his wrist. Sure, the others had small numbers, some less than a thousand, some even more than that, but no one had  _11367_  on their wrist. Still, that wasn't a reason to make fun of Mark and his soulmate. He hadn't even met them, and he already felt extremely protective towards them.

 

"Don't you  _dare_ ," Mark seethed. "Say that again.  _Ever_."

 

Mark had been suspended for a week for that, but he didn't regret it.

 

_"You're never going to find them; The loser who lives so far away from you!"_

When Jackson was 16, he'd flown to another country to take part in the Youth Olympic Games. Armed with confidence, he watched the numbers on his wrist increase from  _11367_  to  _13856_. He stares at the numbers before he starts any of his matches, telling himself that he'd win for his soulmate.

 

"For you."

 

When Mark was 17, he was in a foreign place. He couldn't speak the language, had no idea what he was doing flying across the world to do this, and he was scared. He hadn't even graduated high school, saying bye to his friends at Arcadia and taking off for South Korea to begin his training as an idol. An idol, of all things. Mark hadn't even known what he wanted to take in university, let alone be able to stand on stage in front of an audience to sing and dance.

 

And yet he was here. He was  _here_ , in Seoul, in JYP's office. He bit the inside of his lip, hand clutched around his wrist. Even though he couldn't see it, the  _2095_  was burned into the back of his eyes, telling him that he was close, the closest that he had ever been to his soulmate.

 

When Jackson was 18, he arrived in South Korea. Having become the best fencer in Asia, and with a gold medal to boot, he'd managed to get past JYP's auditions to come here. He didn't know what had made him audition for a place in a company he knew next to nothing of, in a country he only knew for the drama 'The Jewel in the Palace' and for their barbecue, but here he was. It was a mark of how nervous he was that he didn't notice that the number on his wrist had dwindled down to a single digit.

 

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the building.

 

_1_

 

* * *

_0_

* * *

When Jackson had been introduced to the new trainees, Mark had stared at him, stunned. He hissed, feeling a burning pain on his inner wrist, hearing a mirror to the sound he made from the other boy.

 

They both lifted their eyes to each other's,  _Mark Tuan_  and  _Jackson Wang_  now inked into their skin, fiery red. 

 

"It's you," Mark had said, not noticing how everyone else cleared the room to let them have some privacy. Finding your soulmate was, after all, a grand event.

 

Jackson stared, eyes wide in disbelief. "Yeah. It's me."

 

Then they smiled.


End file.
